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Telling others what others are doing for the Lord
christianreview | 입력 : 2013/04/17 [08:16]
1. 72 Hours of Prayer and Fasting for the USA
2. The Passion without the Resurrected Life
3. Margaret Thatcher Obits Overlook Her 'Devout Christian Faith'
4. First Muslim woman in NSW parliament
5. They Suffer and Die While We Party - Bill Muehlemberg
6. Death of Edith Schaeffer
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1. 72 HOURS OF PRAYER AND FASTING FOR THE USA |
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WORLD-WIDE CALL
72 HOURS OF PRAYER AND FASTING FOR THE USA
The National Day of Prayer and Fasting in Australia is calling for 72 hours of prayer and fasting for the USA to take place from 30 April – 2 May 2013. 30 April is America’s National Day of Repentance (NDOR) while 2 May is the 62nd annual National Day of Prayer (NDP) celebrated throughout the USA.
Now is the time for Australia and New Zealand and the nations of the world to stand with the USA in their hour of need. This prayer event will have profound significance for America and help turn the tide of family breakdown, crippling addictions, increasing immorality and random acts of horrific violence, as we have just witnessed in the Boston bombings.
Background
On New Year’s Eve 2012, Pastor Jeff Daly of the NDOR came to Australia and joined in a prayer event in Canberra, our nation’s capital. He then organised prayer in USA to support the National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Australia on Sunday 10 February 2013. Ps Daly has called for Australians to stand with Americans on 30 April 2013 to pray for national repentance using the theme verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14. This day is the 224th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration as a devout Christian president and the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s day of "humiliation, prayer and fasting" held during the devastating times of the Civil War.
The theme for the NDP 2013 is Pray for America, emphasizing the need for individuals, corporately and individually, to place their faith in the unfailing character of their Creator, who is sovereign over all governments, authorities, and men. The theme verse is Matthew 12:21: “In His name the nations will put their hope.”
The reality is that it was American men who shed their blood that saved Australia from invasion from the Japanese during the Second World War. The battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 sank many Japanese ships and troop carriers at great cost to American life. Even though that battle was lost, the war was won as a result. Many nations of the world have much to thank the USA for because of their past and present sacrifices for freedom.
2. The Passion without the Resurrected Life |
by The Rabbit Room on March 31, 2013
[The following is an excerpt from N. T. Wright's Surprised By Hope.]
“…Many churches now hold Easter vigils, as the Orthodox church has always done, but in many cases they are…too tame by half. Easter is about the wild delight of God’s creative power…we ought to shout Alleluias instead of murmuring them; we should light every candle in the building instead of only some; we should give every man, woman, child, cat, dog, and mouse in the place a candle to hold; we should have a real bonfire; and we should splash water about as we renew our baptismal vows. Every step back from that is a step toward an ethereal or esoteric Easter experience, and the thing about Easter is that it is neither ethereal nor esoteric. It’s about the real Jesus coming out of the real tomb and getting God’s real new creation under way.
But my biggest problem starts on Easter Monday. I regard it as absurd and unjustifiable that we should spend forty days keeping Lent, pondering what it means, preaching about self-denial, being at least a little gloomy, and then bringing it all to a peak with Holy Week, which in turn climaxes in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday…and then, after a rather odd Holy Saturday, we have a single day of celebration.
…we should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity; as Paul says, you are still in your sins……if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up... Christian holiness was never meant to be merely negative…. The forty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving... But if you really make a start on it, it might give you a sniff of new possibilities, new hopes, new ventures you never dreamed of. It might bring something of Easter into your innermost life. It might help you wake up in a whole new way.
And that’s what Easter is all about.”Link Please circulate the Ascension Poster attached. Available also in Korean
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3. Margaret Thatcher Obits Overlook Her 'Devout Christian Faith' |
Jeremy Weber Christianity Today
April 8, 2013
Update (April 10): The Economist notes Thatcher's "Sermon on the Mound," her "impassioned" defense of "individual salvation over social reform, the legitimacy of moneymaking when combined with altruism, and the 'responsibility that comes with freedom and the supreme sacrifice of Christ.'"
Obituaries are flooding the Internet following the death today of Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom's first female prime minister—and one of the most controversial yet influential to ever hold the post. But overlooked is how her Christian faith inspired the Iron Lady's politics."Few obituaries are likely to mention her devout Christian faith, which was the foundation of her political programme and the bedrock of her conviction for less government, lower taxes, more freedom and greater personal responsibility," notes Cranmer, a British blog on religion and politics. It rounds up the many statements that Thatcher made on faith and politics over her career, including a 1988 speech given at the "zenith of her power" (in Cranmer's estimation). "We must not profess the Christian faith and go to Church simply because we want social reforms and benefits or a better standard of behaviour," Thatcher told the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1988, "but because we accept the sanctity of life, the responsibility that comes with freedom and the supreme sacrifice of Christ."The Margaret Thatcher Foundation offers a 1978 interview in which Thatcher explains her view of "religion and personal responsibility." Among other comments, she cited C. S. Lewis as an influence, and said:
Read more: Her first words on becoming Prime Minister - the Prayer of St Francis
Very excited, very aware of the responsibilities. Her Majesty The Queen has asked me to form a new administration and I have accepted. It is, of course, the greatest honour that can come to any citizen in a democracy. (Cheering) I know full well the responsibilities that await me as I enter the door of No. 10 and I'll strive unceasingly to try to fulfil the trust and confidence that the British people have placed in me and the things in which I believe. And I would just like to remember some words of St. Francis of Assisi which I think are really just particularly apt at the moment. ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope’ … .[fo 1] … . and to all the British people—howsoever they voted—may I say this. Now that the Election is over, may we get together and strive to serve and strengthen the country of which we're so proud to be a part. [Interruption "Prime Minister … ."] And finally, one last thing: in the words of Airey Neave whom we had hoped to bring here with us, ‘There is now work to be done’.
Link: Margaret Thatcher's Speech to General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
May 21 1988 Link: http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107246
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4. First Muslim woman in NSW parliament |
Mehreen Faruqi says there will be no conflict between faith and politics when she becomes the first Muslim woman in any parliament in Australia.
Dr Faruqi will replace NSW upper house MP Cate Faehrmann when she resigns from NSW politics in June to run for a seat in the Senate.
Dr Faruqi won the Greens preselection late on Saturday following a postal ballot from among a field of seven women-only candidates, in another first for the party.
The move makes Dr Faruqi the first Muslim woman appointed to any parliament in Australia, the party said.
While she will be advocating for Islamic-sensitive issues such as same-sex marriage in her new role, there would be no potential conflict of ideas, Dr Faruqi said.
"We live in a secular society in Australia and for me (same-sex marriage) is an issue of human rights and quite easily justifiable.
Read more
How Shia International News Association wrote the story up
[B]SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) [/B]– Making history in the multicultural country, a Pakistani-origin Muslim has been appointed as the first Muslim woman in the Australian parliament, breaking new grounds for politics in Australia.
"We do need a spectrum of diverse politicians in Australian parliaments who can represent our communities,” Mehreen Faruqi told 9MSN News on Sunday, April 7.
"It shows the world that we really value multiculturalism.”
Faruqi, a Muslim academic, will represent the Greens Party in the Upper House in the New South Wales.
She will replace Cate Faehrmann, who will resign in June to run for a seat in the Senate.
“Mehreen's Pakistani heritage not only breaks new ground for the Greens but it breaks new grounds for politics in NSW, and indeed the whole country,” Faehrmann said in a statement.
Migrating from Pakistan with her family in 1992, Mehreen describes herself as an “environmental engineer, climate change and education activist, proud union member and feminist.”Read more
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5. They Suffer and Die While We Party - Bill Muehlemberg |
Bill Muehlenberg's commentary on issues of the day…
Christian Newswire just released this statement about the scene there:
“What has been described as the Arab Spring has evolved into deadly seasons, especially for the original Christian inhabitants of these lands. The dictators who once ruled these countries are being replaced by militant Islamic regimes that are bent on cleansing their nations from all Christians.
“Not a day passes in Egypt without Christian homes, businesses and churches burnt to the ground. Members of the Christian minority are wounded and killed. It is common for their children to be kidnapped for ransom or for coerced conversion to Islam. In village after village, militant Muslims drive Christians from their homes and businesses, where they have lived for generations.
“A recent atrocity in Egypt exemplifies violence unprecedented in modern history. On Sunday April 7, 2013, a funeral service was held at St Mark’s Coptic Cathedral for the victims of Muslim violence in the village of Al Khosous. As the four coffins were carried from the church, Islamic mobs attacked the mourners throwing rocks, grenades, tear gas and fire bombs, killing two more Christians and wounding dozens. The mob also attacked the Cathedral compound which includes the headquarters of the Coptic Papacy and residence of the Pope. Police took more than an hour to respond, and when they arrived, they did nothing to stop the attack. There are reports that some officers actually fired tear gas grenades into the Cathedral. The symbolic ramifications of these acts are frightening.
“The United States shares responsibility for what is happening to Egypt’s Christians. The USA encouraged the takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood with full knowledge that the organization has a history of violence and bloodshed. The United States has a powerful bargaining tool to help stop the violence. It gives Egypt 2 Billion Dollars annually in foreign aid. The President and Congress should make it known that the funding is at risk unless a quick peaceful solution is found for the plight of The Coptic Christians of Egypt.”
And here in Australia Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has just come out in support of the persecuted Copts. His media statement said this:
“The Coalition is concerned that Egypt’s Copts continue to face great stress. In the latest incident, on 7 April, a funeral at Cairo’s St Mark’s Coptic cathedral for four Copts killed in sectarian violence came under attack resulting in a further death and many injuries.
“Tragically, the collapse of the Mubarak regime has led to increased violence against Egypt’s Coptic community. Since then, Copts around the world, including the tens of thousands in Australia, have been increasingly anxious about the difficult situation faced by members of their faith in Egypt.
“As I said at a major prayer vigil in Sydney in October 2011, a democracy must be judged not by how effectively it implements the will of the majority but how effectively it protects of the rights of the minority.
“The Australian government should impress on the Egyptian authorities, including through a statement, its concerns about the situation of Egypt’s Coptic community and urge the country’s leaders to establish a fully democratic political system which protects the rights of minorities. For the Coalition, nothing less is acceptable.”
Read more
6. Death of Edith Schaeffer |
Edith Schaeffer, Definer of Christian Family Values, Dies at 98
April 6, 2013 New York Times
Edith Schaeffer with her husband, Francis Schaeffer, in 1970 in Switzerland, where they founded L’Abri, a Christian commune.
Edith Schaeffer, founder with her husband, Francis Schaeffer, of a Swiss commune considered the theological birthplace of the American religious right, and author of many popular books that helped define conservative Christian family values for a worldwide evangelical audience, mainly female, died on Sunday in Huemoz, Switzerland, where she had lived most of her life. She was 98...
Read more
Edith Schaeffer in "The Art of Life"
"A Christian, above all people, should live artistically, aesthetically, and creatively. We are supposed to be representing the Creator who is there, and whom we acknowledge to be there. It is true that all people are created in the image of God, but Christians are supposed to be conscious of that fact, and being conscious of it should recognize the importance of living artistically, aesthetically, and creatively, as creative creatures of the Creator. If we have been created in the image of an Artist, then we should look for expressions of artistry, and be sensitive to beauty, responsive to what has been created for our appreciaton."
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